My Disease, part two

This post is for Crystal who posed a question on her blog about how to organize your kids' routines.

Well. Don't even get me started.

But since I am already started, here is a little peek at what has worked for us. It may not work for you or your kids, but seems to have struck a cord with mine. We've been doing a variation of these same job charts for about three years and the kids still diligently follow them.

I made these job charts out of foam board -I got two posters and cut each one in half, then drew the lines on with a Sharpie. Don't those straight lines just bring a little bit of pleasure into your heart? No?

Okay, then. Just me.

I used stickers for the kids' names and days of the week (covering with a large strip of packing tape to protect them). Each child has a chart of their very own:

And for my child who is just learning to read, her jobs also have wooden cutout pictures next to them so she knows what to do. I got all the cutouts and pieces in the little wooden aisle at Michaels. Very cheap. Very cute. Very easy.

Everyone has the same jobs (which I typed out, laminated, and adhered with velcro), except one "extra" job rotates each week between the children. One week, someone does the breakfast dishes. Another one empties all the bathroom trash cans. And another one cleans the kids' bathroom. Then they trade at the end of each week.

Now, before we go on, I must pause and explain something. BY NO MEANS do they clean the bathroom to my standard. But if they wipe the toothpaste out of the sink and off the mirror, then I can function until I clean the bathroom myself, which is about once a week. All of the jobs are simple and easily accomplished by even the youngest member of the family. I feel good because it teaches them responsibility, and helps me out a lot.

I used Velcro on the back of all the wooden pieces. Make sure to not put the same type of Velcro on both the wooden piece and your poster. They won't stick that way. Not that I'd know anything about that. Ahem.

I keep the job charts on the inside doors of our pantry in the kitchen (also attached with Velcro in case I want to change them out or bring them with us on an upcoming move - which in our case, seems to have been about every year. [Hopefully not anymore]).

Here is a full view. Thank you in advance for not commenting on the disorganized and cluttered pantry. Don't worry - it's on my to-do list.

But, when the doors are closed, nobody need know of the OCD that plagues my life. See? How pretty. Two doors. Nothing to see here. Move along.

So what do you do that works?

Giving you the best of my brain power

It is not often that I have an idea so profound, so succinct, that it changes my life forever.

I know. Some of you are shocked speechless. You thought I was spewing forth genius all the live long day.

Shut up.

But I figure if Al Gore can invent the internet, I, too, can have a few contributions to my name.

And so it is that I feel compelled to document these things here. You know, as proof that my brain actually once contained some useful cells. And one day when I'm shuffling down a linoleum hallway in some nursing home, toothless and diaper-clad, it will be said that I wasn't always that way.

Idea #1: Treadmill DVR (probably my biggest stroke of genius)

About eight years ago, I decided to stick a DVR in front of my treadmill. I boldly committed myself to taping my shows ONLY on that DVR.

What that commitment meant was this: If I wanted to watch my shows, I had to exercise.

I fully credit that move for helping me to maintain my weight. I would probably be sending in my tape for the Biggest Loser today were it not for that commitment. I hold myself to it, and do not watch my shows on any other TV or DVR. I find that I enjoy my shows so much, it hardly feels like exercise. An hour goes by before I know it and my evenings are freed up to spend time with a husband who cannot stand watching any TV.

And since I just so happen to be slightly fond of the TV, it means I run six days a week. And have done so for eight years.

Idea #2:

The split-end saver

I have been doing this one for so long, I hardly know when it began. Every day after I finish styling my hair, I rub some lotion onto my hands. When the lotion is almost all the way rubbed in, I run my fingers through the ends of my hair. It makes the driest part of my hair soft, and has helped to keep split ends in check. I don't have so much lotion that my hair gets greasy, but just enough to moisturize the dry ends.

I swear by this beauty secret, and will do it until the day I die. Or until I'm diaper-clad in that nursing home. I figure by then, split ends will be the least of my worries, right?

Idea #3:

The dish soap dilemma

When we moved into this house three years ago, I found myself constantly annoyed with the dish soap. Since we use a dishwasher religiously, I don't find myself washing dishes all that often. But when I do, it's a pain to reach under the cupboard and bring the soap out. Plus, then you have to put it away again.

And that's like eight seconds of my life, people.

What's that? You say I could just leave it out all the time?

Um, have you met me? I don't like the ugly things to be left out.

So, I bought an olive oil bottle and filled it with dish soap. It's pretty enough that I don't mind it being out on the counter all the time, and yet provides me the easy access I was longing for, too.


Idea #4: Job charts

I wrote extensively about these puppies in the past. Click over for the full story.

Bottom line: We're still using them today.

Idea #5

World's Best Water Bottle

While I definitely didn't come up with this idea myself, the discovery of this water bottle has changed my life, as well as the lives of several friends I know.

What's the biggest problem we have with water bottles? The condensation that leaves ugly water marks all over the place and soaks your hands every time you take a drink.

This water bottle is genius. There is an inner bottle that is not exposed to any outside air, thus eliminating the pesky condensation. It's nicely marked to help you keep track of the volume you consume, and they offer a lovely pink shade that promotes breast cancer awareness.

(I feel like an infomercial here.)

At first, I could only find them online, but lately I've even seen them in the aisles at Target. Pick up a few today. Your dehydrated body will thank you.

Idea #6

BEST. SNACK. EVER.

I created this snack one day after craving chocolate and peanut butter together, but finding myself in the unfortunate predicament of trying to eat healthy.

You know. That one day. When I tried healthy eating.

It has become my go-to afternoon snack, and I've even gotten the Husband addicted to them. It's simply this: a chocolate rice cake, a dab of peanut butter, and a half a banana. Two hundred calories of bliss.

Yes, I realize that rice cakes went out of style after we all got over the low-fat diets in the 90s, but this snack is fantastic. It's sweet, salty, crunchy, and filling. I combine it with a good 24 ounces from my special water bottle, and the three o'clock munchies are no longer a problem.

Idea #7:

My favorite photos on the wall

While I can only take credit for the idea of the wall, the Husband was the mastermind behind the planning and placement of the arrangement you see here.

But I LOVE my photo wall. It's the first thing you see when you walk through our front door, and it is my favorite room in the whole house. The light in there is spectacular, and the furniture is just right. When I'm going to curl up with a good book and a blanket, this is the room I go to.

In fact, it's where I'm typing right now. Best thing we ever put up on our walls. Ever.


I guess that's it. It appears that I have only had seven good ideas in my lifetime. But considering the brain power I'm sporting, I'd say that's not too shabby.

Not too shabby at all.